


Caelo adspectat in caelo

by QueenOfCarrotFlowers



Series: Carrot's Horror Stories [11]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Victorian, Eldritch, F/M, Gen, Kylo is a cat - Freeform, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-08
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:13:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22617688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenOfCarrotFlowers/pseuds/QueenOfCarrotFlowers
Summary: Caelo adspectat in caelo- Kylo looks to the skyRey is on her way to a meeting at the museum when she comes across a little black kitten, and she can't bring herself to leave it out in the cold.An AU of The Hand That Feeds by Persimonne, where Kylo is a kitten instead of a manA note to help avoid confusion: the Latin wordcaelois pronounced like Kylo.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey
Series: Carrot's Horror Stories [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2175285
Comments: 17
Kudos: 62
Collections: Reylo After Dark, Reylo Sandbox





	Caelo adspectat in caelo

**Author's Note:**

  * For [persimonne](https://archiveofourown.org/users/persimonne/gifts).
  * Inspired by [The Hand That Feeds](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16378784) by [persimonne](https://archiveofourown.org/users/persimonne/pseuds/persimonne). 



> Persimonne, in addition to being a wonderful artist and writer and a supportive friend, is also incredibly generous. So when she said she welcomed people to write stories set in the same universe as her beautiful Victorian eldritch vampire story [The Hand That Feeds](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16378784/chapters/38333372), I jumped at the chance. So here is my take on that: it's an AU of the AU, and a gift for Persi. Thank you! You're the best!
> 
> Thank you also to flypaper_brain for the beta and the constant support xoxo

Rey’s footsteps sounded harshly on the cobblestones as she rushed down the sidewalk towards the museum. She was already late for her meeting with Poe to discuss the newly-discovered vases from the dig in Italy, and the wind blowing rain in her face didn’t help matters at all. She stopped at the corner of Woburn Place, pausing to allow a cart to pass before she could cross over to Russell Square, when a noise from the stoop of the building caught her attention. She took a step closer and there it was - a tiny kitten, pure black, curled up at the base of a concrete planter that was full of dirt and nothing else. It looked up at her with soft, sad amber eyes and mewed piteously, and Rey cursed her soft heart. She couldn’t bear to leave the poor thing outside in the cold, windy rain. It was just a baby. Where was its mother? It needed to be fed, and snuggled! Without a second thought she scooped the thing up, tucked it into her bag, and continued her swift course to the museum.

At least the creature was calm. It slept through the meeting, and didn’t even wake when Rey picked the bag up from her chair in preparation to return home. By the time she vacated the museum the sun had set, and the kitten finally awoke just as she was mounting the steps to her own front door.

Dinner was ready to be served when they arrived, and as Mrs Rachel served Rey, she requested something that might be appropriate for a kitten. The older woman eyed the kitten warily - it was out of the bag now, and walked down the surface of the long dining table, stopping to sniff every vase and dish that lay there - but she did as she was asked. She returned with a plate containing a few teaspoonfuls of shredded fish, two raw oysters, a slice of the roast that served as Rey’s own dinner, and a small pile of finely-chopped raw liver. She also brought along a small dish of heavy cream, which implied to Rey that her attitude towards the small animal was not as negative as she had first let on.

The kitten - whom Rey had finally identified as male, and had decided to call Caelo, after he insisted on trying to carve up the floral centerpiece with his tiny, sharp claws - ignored all on the plate except for the liver, which he scarfed down with unrestrained enthusiasm before climbing down onto Rey’s lap, despite her protestations, curling into a ball and falling asleep, purring loudly with his claws embedded into the thick fabric of her skirts. She had no choice but to carry him with her to the library, where she spent a few hours reading by candlelight before taking herself to bed. He stayed with her there, too. His initial attempts to sneak down beneath the bedclothes were harshly stymied, so instead he curled in a tight ball next to her head, on the pillow. 

At some point during the night, Rey got up to use the toilet and have a drink of water. When she returned to the bedroom, Caelo had relocated to the windowsill, where he was sitting back on his haunches, straight as a board, staring up into the sky. His attitude reminded her of sculptures of cats dug up from the pyramids in Egypt, and she walked over to join him, pulling her dressing gown close around her to help protect from the chill that emanated through the slightly wavering glass pane of the window. The moon had long since set, but the sky was uncharacteristically clear; the stars glimmered and danced in the vast darkness of space.

“ _Caelo adspectat in caelo,_ ” Rey whispered to the kitten. He turned his amber gaze to her, and she shivered - was it possible that this tiny animal actually understood what she was saying? She looked down at him and continued. “I call you Caelo because you carved up those flowers. But _caelo_ in Latin, in addition to meaning _I carve_ , also means _to heaven_. So I’m not surprised to see you looking up into the stars, my little Caelo.” The kitten blinked once, and returned to perusing the twinkling lights in the heavens. Rey watched with him for another moment before returning to her warm bed. Caelo stayed by the window, but when Rey awakened in the morning, the dim light of dawn shining into the window, he was back by her head, purring contentedly.

They spent the morning at home, Rey intent on doing more research on the upcoming dig in Italy, and Caelo dividing his time between napping on Rey’s shoulder, staring out the window and chirping at the birds in the garden, and chasing sunbeams across the worn carpet. The rain from the day before had cleared away, leaving a fresh, fair, crisp day. Despite the chill Rey was determined to spend some time out of doors, so with Mrs Rachel’s assistance she packed up a small picnic - including chopped liver and a bottle of cream for Caelo - and the young woman and the black kitten walked the few blocks over to the closest park, where Rey laid the wool blanket out in the grass and set the food around her. They hadn’t been there very long, although Caelo had already scarfed down his liver and was preparing to stalk some of the smaller birds, when the calm was interrupted by a shout from the direction of some of the larger bushes on the perimeter of the park.

“Oi! Girl! You there!”

Rey scrambled to her feet. The voice was familiar, and her stomach clenched with recognition as the man quickly grew closer. He was just as large as she remembered him, and even though she hadn’t seen him in years, not since she was a child, she still found him terrifying. She backed away from him but she was so frozen, she couldn’t even bring herself to turn and run.

“Mister Plutt!” Rey cried out, her voice sounding strange and girlish in her own head. “Stay away from me!”

“I’ve stayed away from you for too long, girl,” he growled, stomping closer and closer, his heavy boots digging into the grass and pulling it up in clumps, his hands in tight fists at his sides. “You owe me, and I intend to get back my investment, one way or another.”

A flash of black, and Caelo stood between them, baring his sharp little teeth and hissing, the fur of his tail and shoulders standing on end. It made him look bigger but he was still a tiny thing, and no match for a grown man. 

“Caelo, no!” Rey shouted, and bent down to pick him up, but he was too quick for her and bounced away, still keeping his fury focused on Plutt. In addition to being terrified of Plutt for her own sake, she was terrified on Caelo’s behalf - she knew from experience that the man had no regard for any life, no matter how innocent.

The man leaned back and laughed. “A kitten! How cute, and so protective of his mistress,” he mocked her, and before she could move he lifted his foot and kicked little Caelo away. 

Rey screamed, and looked off to the side, where she expected to see her kitten broken and limp in the grass, but no - Caelo was not there.

“What the…” Plutt spoke, and Rey turned her attention back to him - to his foot, where black tendrils were quickly working their way around his boot and up his leg. It was a bit like smoke, she thought, not solid but murky, dense but nevertheless vaporous. Both she and Plutt watched in silence as the tendrils weaved over and under and around each other, covering first Plutt’s right leg, and then working their way down his left and up his torso. As Rey followed the movement of the coiling black mass she was sure that she caught glimpses of something more - amber eyes and sharp teeth and needle-like claws.

When the tendrils reached his neck, Plutt finally broke out of his daze and fell to the ground, screaming, writhing around and attempting to push against the thing. Rey stood feet away, frozen, undecided whether she should help or simply stand back and enjoy the situation. Plutt was completely covered with roiling black and was having no luck ridding himself of it, until he started shouting, “No, don’t do it! Not that! I’ll go! Let me go, I’ll go! I won’t bother her again, just let me go, please!” With that the black mass slowly unweaved itself, and within a few moments the last of it crawled off of Plutt’s right foot and settled itself back into the shape of a tiny black kitten. 

Plutt stood, shaking, and stared down at Caelo, then back up at Rey. She stood tall, and without a word the man turned and ran out of the park, as though being chased by a thousand baying demons. Which, perhaps, he was, Rey considered, as she reached down and picked Caelo up. He purred, and nipped at her thumb, and she held him up to her cheek and took pleasure in how his soft, warm fur felt against her skin.

“You are a good little kitty, aren’t you,” she murmured, as tendrils of black smoke wrapped around her wrist and up her arm, amber eyes blinking while teeth and claws nipped at her skin. She sat back down on the blanket and picked up a sandwich; she was so hungry after that fright. Caelo whispered to her, and she giggled. “Oh yes,” she said, “I’m not afraid at all. Please stay with me, I’ll give you all the liver you want, and you can sleep on my pillow.” He purred and snuggled under her chin, and she rubbed her cheek against him, and after the picnic was over she brought him home with her. From that day forward Rey and Caelo were a familiar sight around the neighborhood, and at the museum, and if anybody noticed that they spent a lot of time outside looking into the sky late at night, they never mentioned it. 


End file.
